Michaela McKenzie and Emily Walvoord met at the nail salon, where they had both gone after work to get a mani-pedi.

They hit it off right away, not least because they both were still wearing their fire-retardant coveralls from the chemical plants where they work as engineers.

Now friends, McKenzie and Walvoord are part of a group of women working to reopen the Beaumont chapter of the Society of Women Engineers.

They hope to inspire the next generation to enter a field related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, collectively referred to as STEM.

"Only 20 percent of engineers are women," said McKenzie, achemical engineer at the local DuPont plant. "Diversity is so important, not just in skin color but in every way. Women bring a different perspective, and their presence impacts companies positively long-term."

Women in STEM

When: 4 p.m.-7 p.m. today

Where: Beaumont Children's Museum, 701 Main St.

Who: Beaumont chapter of the Society of Women Engineers

Details: Boys and girls are welcome to participate in experiments and other activities with professional women engineers.

She and Walvoord have teamed up with the Beaumont Children's Museum to host a "Women in STEM" event today at the downtown museum. Boys and girls are welcome to participate in experiments and other activities with professional women engineers.

McKenzie pointed out that all of the refineries in the area provide great opportunities for scientists of all kinds in Southeast Texas.

Local author and engineer Tracey Borgmeyer will be at the museum event talking about the second book in her children's series, "Halley Harper, Science Girl Extraordinaire."

A chemical engineer herself, Borgmeyer wanted her daughter to love science and math as much as she does and was afraid of her going thought the same struggles she went through growing up.

"We want our daughters to love science, and many do when they're little," she said. "But as they get older they think, like I did, 'Am Ismart enough?' or 'What if I can't do this?"

Ellen Wiemers, the Children's Museum's education manager, said there is a societal disservice done to girls.

"We don't encourage or push them into science and STEM like we do boys," Wiemers said. "In STEM-based summer camps, we have way more boys than girls, but often the females are doing the best and learning the fastest."

Wiemers said she noticed girls pay greater attention to detail when solving problems, an invaluable skill in STEM occupations. She said it's easy to get young girls to enjoy science, but harder to keep them connected to it as they grow.

Borgmeyer, also the author of a blog helping mothers to inspire their own daughters through at-home science experiments, said it occurred to her that girls were lacking a relatable character to aspire to be like.

"I created the 'Halley Harper' books because there weren't female science heros for kids," Borgmeyer said.

The first two books in the planned five-book series are available now.

"The engineers are working in groups of two to put on demonstrations that will teach the boys and girls the basics, and the ladies are so excited," said Amanda Yarbrough, the Children's Museum's executive director.

"They get to go back to the basics to teach things like a potato clock and a lemon battery, and engineering with things like marshmallow, toothpicks and gumdrops, the things that got them excited about science," Yarbrough said. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

Wiemers said the goal is to give children an opportunity to express their creativity, while also showing parents how important creativity actually is in the STEM fields.

"We do STEAM — or science, technology, engineering, art and math — here at the museum," she said.